Delivery Device

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a delivery device for delivering predetermined amounts of fluid, comprising a body ( 10 ), a container ( 16 ) filled with fluid to be delivered arranged inside said body, said container comprising an opening for expelling said fluid and a wall ( 18 ) movable inside said container ( 16 ), a threaded plunger rod ( 46 ) arranged movable inside said body ( 10 ) in the longitudinal direction and in contact with said movable wall ( 18 ), a manually operated push means ( 14, 60 ) movable in the longitudinal direction capable of, upon operation, move said plunger rod ( 46 ) towards said movable wall ( 18 ), thereby expelling fluid, and means for transforming a generally linear movement of said push means ( 14, 60 ) to a rotational movement of said plunger rod ( 46 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a delivery device and in particular amedical delivery device.

BACKGROUND ART

There are numerous different types of delivery devices on the market andeven more delivery devices that have been developed but have not reachedany market. The devices display different degrees of automation andfunctions depending on the particular demands and requirements.

The delivery devices range from dispensers for cosmetic products tomedical delivery devices for administering vital drugs, such asinjectors, inhalers and nebulisers, where many are quite advanced. Withthe advanced functions comes the necessity for rather complex mechanicalsolutions requiring a large number of components that have to be able tointeract with each other in a reliable and safe way, in particular whendealing with vital drugs.

This in turn means that the cost of the devices becomes rather high andthere is further a risk that the advanced functions requires complexhandling steps in order to operate the device for administering a drugdose. For a number of persons that use this type of device, thecomplexity may be too much, leading to improper handling of the device,which in turn could lead to serious consequences.

For some types of application, the device need not be so advanced or itcould be that the cost of the device needs to be kept as low aspossible, but still needs to have a decent functionality. Another aspectwhen dispensing of fluids is the tendency of drooling after a dose hasbeen delivered. This is quite common for some types of delivery devicesbecause of the “resiliency” of the system, such as residual tension insprings, in rubber stoppers inside cartridges and the like.

The document EP 1 547 694 deals with a dispenser solution where thefocus is on low manufacturing and filling costs. It comprises an outercasing and a fluid insert where the fluid insert is moved between twopositions for dispensing a dose. This solution is obviously verycost-effective but the handling functionality is not optimal. It hasfurther no means for preventing drooling of fluid after delivered dose.There is thus a need for a cost-effective delivery device that alsocomprises a good functionality.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of the stateof the art devices described above.

This aim is solved by a delivery device according to the independentpatent claim. Preferable embodiments are the subject of the dependentpatent claims.

According to a main aspect of the invention it is characterised by adelivery device for delivering predetermined amounts of fluid, Deliverydevice for delivering predetermined amounts of fluid, comprising a body,a container filled with fluid to be delivered arranged inside said body,said container comprising an opening for expelling said fluid and a wallmovable inside said container, a threaded plunger rod (46) arrangedmovable inside said body in the longitudinal direction and in contactwith said movable wall, a manually operated push means movable in thelongitudinal direction capable of, upon operation, move said plunger rodtowards said movable wall, thereby expelling fluid, and means fortransforming a generally linear movement of said push means to arotational movement of said plunger rod, wherein said transforming meanscomprises a first set of surfaces arranged to said manually operatedpush means inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction co-actingwith a second set of inclined surfaces arranged on a rotatable drivemeans rotatably locked to said plunger rod.

According to another aspect of the invention, said second set ofinclined surfaces are arranged around the circumference of the drivemeans having a predetermined number of degrees to each othercorresponding to the predetermined amount of fluid to be delivered.

According to a further aspect of the invention, said drive means isarranged with a ratchet interface co-operating with a fixed ratchetinterface arranged on the body for preventing a return movement of saiddrive means.

According to yet an aspect of the invention, the device furthercomprises means capable of unlocking said push means between a positionwhere said push means are locked from being manually operated in thelongitudinal direction to a position enabling operation.

According to another important aspect, the device further comprises adose delivery means attached to the opening of said container wherein aclosing valve is arranged to open above a certain pressure inside saidcontainer and to close below said pressure.

The present invention displays a number of advantages. The use of a pushmeans that is manually operable in a linear manner is easy andconvenient for the user to handle at the same time as a rotationalmovement for applying pressure to a fluid for expelling it means abetter utility of the manual force from the user, because for manyfluids a linear manual force is too low for expelling a fluid through anopening in the container. This is especially the case for fluids withhigh viscosity.

Preferably the transformation from linear movement to rotationalmovement is performed with inclined surfaces such as ramps and ratchetinterfaces which are simple and cost-effective to manufacture with fewcomponents.

By varying the inclination of the ramps and the pitch of the threads itis possible to adjust the quantity of the delivered dose and to set theforce required to deliver said dose in a simple and effective way.

Preferably the device is arranged with a valve at the delivery openingfor preventing drooling at the end of delivered dose. Because the valvepreferably is opened and closed by the pressure from the delivered fluida reliable opening and closing of the valve is obtained at start and endof dose delivery.

The device could also be arranged with dose delivering units such asinjection needles, aerosol nozzles and nebulising nozzles for differenttypes of application, drug containers and use.

These and other aspects of and advantages with the present inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description and fromthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference willbe made to the accompanying drawings, of which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of one embodiment of the presentinvention,

FIGS. 4 to 6 are detailed views in cross-section of the rear part of theembodiment of FIG. 1,

FIG. 7 is a detailed view in cross-section of the front part of theembodiment of FIG. 1,

FIG. 8 is a view in cross-section of a component comprised in theembodiment of FIG. 1,

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another component of the embodiment,

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a further component,

FIGS. 11 a and 11 b are perspective views of yet a component of theembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The device according to the present invention is shown in the drawings.The device comprises an elongated body 10 having a front end and a rearend, FIGS. 1 and 2. The front end is in the storage and pre-use statearranged with a removable cap 12. The rear end is arranged with aprotruding button 14, hereafter named thumb button, the function ofwhich will be described below.

As seen in FIG. 3 a container 16; e.g. a cartridge, a syringe, a creamcontainer, a gas container; comprising fluid to be delivered is insidethe body. A movable wall 18 is arranged inside the container. At thefront end of the container an end piece 20 is attached, for example by acylindrical part 22 having outwardly directed grooves and/or protrusions24 mating with inwardly directed grooves and/or protrusions 26 of acylindrical part 28 of the container, FIG. 7.

The end piece is arranged with a central opening 30, through which thefluid may be expelled. A valve 32 is arranged in the vicinity of thecentral opening, arranged with a front part having a shape correspondingto the central opening. A valve resilient means 34, e.g. a spring,arranged between the valve and the container urges the valve into thecentral opening. A passage 36 is arranged between the interior of thecontainer and a space 38 between the valve and the end piece, delimitedby an annular surface 40 of the valve on the opposite side of the valveresilient means.

The body 10 is further arranged with a central passage 42 arranged withthreads 44 and ramps 52, FIG. 8, through which a threaded plunger rod 46is arranged. A generally cylindrical part, hereafter named driver 48,FIG. 10, is arranged adjacent the threaded passage. The plunger rodextends through the driver in a rotationally locked, but slidable mannerwith the help of a spline design. The front end surface of the driver isarranged with a ratchet interface having inclined ramps 50 co-actingwith a surface surrounding the central passage with corresponding ramps52 of the body 10, FIG. 8, the function of which will be describedbelow. A rear end 54 of the driver has a somewhat larger diameter and isarranged with a number of outwardly directed protrusions 56 on itscircumference, where the rearwardly directed surfaces 58 are somewhatinclined. In the shown embodiment there are three protrusions arranged120° to each other around the circumference.

The driver 48 is co-acting with a further generally cylindrical part,hereafter named toggle sleeve 60, FIGS. 11 a and b. The front end of thetoggle sleeve is arranged with a circumferential ledge 62 having anumber of cut-outs 64, which mate with longitudinal ridges 66 on theinner surface of the body 10, FIG. 8. At the inner walls of the togglesleeve inclined ridges 68 are arranged, which cooperate with theinclined surfaces 58 of the protrusions 56 of the driver 48 in a mannerthat will be explained.

The rear end surface 70 of the toggle sleeve 60 is arranged withinclined surfaces 72, which surfaces co-act with corresponding surfaces76 of a tubular part 78 of the thumb button 14, FIG. 9. The thumb buttonis arranged with a front cylindrical part 80 inside the body and isprevented from moving rearwardly by a circumferential ledge 82 incontact with an inwardly directed ledge 84 of the body 10. The frontcylindrical part of the thumb button is further arranged withlongitudinal grooves 86 arranged with a pitch and a width correspondingto the longitudinal ridges 66 of the body 10. In a first embodiment, thefront end surface of the thumb button, shown in FIG. 9, is arranged witha number of inclined surfaces 88 and stop ledges 90. In a secondembodiment, the perimeter surface of the thumb button is furtherarranged with a release button as e.g. a bump, not shown, which iscapable of interact with a respective through hole or indentation, notshown, on the perimeter surface of the body 10 at its rear end.Moreover, a resilient means 92, e.g. a spring, is arranged between aninner surface of the thumb button and the rear end of the driver.

The device is intended to function as follows. When the device isdelivered to the user, the end cap 12 is on and held in place by anannular ledge 94 on the outer surface of the container cooperating withan annular groove 96 on the inner surface of the cap. The cap is removedby pulling it off the device. The thumb button is in the lockedposition, FIG. 4. The next step is to enable delivery of fluid. In thefirst embodiment, the thumb button 14 is unlocked by being turned untilthe stop ledges 90 on the front end surface come in contact with theridges 66 of the body. In the second embodiment, the thumb button 14 isunlocked by pressing the release button whereby the thumb button isejected towards its rear end and forced to turn until the stop ledges 90on the front end surface come in contact with the ridges 66 of the bodydue to the pressure exerted by the spring 92. The inclined surfaces 72of the toggle sleeve 60 and the mating surfaces 76 of the thumb button14 serve the purpose of holding the thumb button in the “closed” and“open” positions as well as providing tactile feedback to the user. Inthe open position the ridges 66 are aligned with the grooves 86 of thethumb button, thereby enabling the thumb button to be pushed into thebody, i.e. enabling use of the device for delivery of fluid, FIG. 5.

The pressing of the thumb button causes the toggle sleeve 60 to moveforward, FIG. 6. This in turn will cause the driver 48 to rotate becauseof the inclined ridges 68 of the toggle sleeve acting on the endsurfaces 58 of the protrusions 56 of the driver. The rotation of thedriver is transmitted to the plunger rod 46 because of the rotationallock between them, and due to the threads of the plunger rod cooperatingwith the threads of the body; the plunger rod will move forward and thuspress the movable wall 18 towards the front end of the device.

The pressure from the movable wall will press the fluid through thepassage 36 in the end part of the container and then act on the annularsurface 40 of the valve 32. This pressure will cause the valve to openagainst the force of the valve resilient means 34, thereby expelling thefluid through the central opening 30. As soon as the pressure from thefluid decreases below the force of the valve resilient means, the valvewill close, thereby preventing any drooling of the fluid.

When the driver has rotated about 120° the ratchet interface between thedriver and the body is such that the ramps 50, 52 falls into the nextindexed position and the dose is completed. The ramps providing theindexed positions prevent any backdriving of the driver. When the userreleases the pressure on the thumb button, the force from the resilientmeans 92 will force the toggle sleeve back to its original position inthe longitudinal direction. In order for the inclined ridges 68 of thetoggle sleeve to be able to act on the protrusions 56 of the driver forsubsequent delivery, the toggle sleeve has to be slightly rotated whichis done with the ramps 72 on the rear end of the toggle sleeve workingwith the mating ramps 76 on the thumb button. In that respect thecut-outs 64 on the toggle sleeve are made somewhat wider than the ridges66 of the body to permit this slightly rotation.

Preferably the device is primed before the first use. This is done byholding the device with the front end pointing upwards and by pressingthe thumb button a number of times.

It is to be understood that the device can be modified in many ways.Even though a rotation of 120° has been described, other pitches may bechosen depending on for example the dose quantity. In that respect thenumber of degrees to each other of the second set of inclined surfacesarranged around the circumference of the drive means may be modified andthe pitch of the threads may also be modified to provide differentlengths that the plunger rod is moved, thus providing different dosequantities.

It is further to be understood that the device may be provided withdifferent delivery means such as injection needles attached to the frontend of the container for enabling injection of fluid, spray nozzles whenthe device is to be used as inhaler or nebuliser.

In this respect it is to be understood that the embodiment describedabove and shown in the drawings is to be regarded only as non-limitingexample of the invention and that it may be modified in many ways withinthe scope of protection by the patent claims.

1.-10. (canceled)
 11. A delivery device for delivering predeterminedamounts of fluid, comprising: a body; a container filled with fluid tobe delivered, wherein the container is arranged inside the body andcomprises an opening for expelling the fluid and a wall movable insidethe container; a threaded plunger rod movably arranged inside the bodyin a longitudinal direction and in contact with the movable wall; amanually operated push mechanism movable in the longitudinal directionand arranged to, upon operation, move the plunger rod toward the movablewall, thereby expelling fluid; and a movement transformer configured totransform a generally linear movement of the push mechanism into arotational movement of the plunger rod, wherein the movement transformercomprises a first set of surfaces arranged to the manually operated pushmechanism inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction andco-acting with a second set of inclined surfaces arranged on a rotatabledrive mechanism rotatably locked to the plunger rod.
 12. The deliverydevice of claim 11, wherein the drive mechanism is arranged with aratchet interface that co-operates with a fixed ratchet interfacearranged on the body, thereby preventing a return movement of the drivemechanism.
 13. The delivery device of claim 11, wherein the second setof inclined surfaces is arranged around a circumference of the drivemechanism having a predetermined number of degrees to each othercorresponding to a predetermined amount of fluid to be delivered. 14.The delivery device of claim 13, wherein the drive mechanism is arrangedwith a ratchet interface that co-operates with a fixed ratchet interfacearranged on the body, thereby preventing a return movement of the drivemechanism.
 15. The delivery device of claim 11, further comprising areturn mechanism arranged to return the push mechanism to its originalposition after completed manual operation.
 16. The delivery device ofclaim 15, wherein the return mechanism comprises a resilient device andramp surfaces configured to slightly turn the push mechanism to assume aposition where the inclined surfaces are again in a co-acting position.17. The delivery device of claim 11, further comprising an unlockingmechanism arranged to unlock the push mechanism between a position wherethe push mechanism is locked from being manually operated in thelongitudinal direction to a position enabling operation.
 18. Thedelivery device of claim 11, wherein a dose delivery mechanism isattached to the opening of the container.
 19. The delivery device ofclaim 18, wherein the dose delivery mechanism includes an injectionneedle, an aerosol nozzle, a nebulizing nozzle, or an end piece.
 20. Thedelivery device of claim 19, wherein the end piece further comprises aclosing valve arranged to open above a certain pressure inside thecontainer and to close below the certain pressure.
 21. The deliverydevice of claim 20, wherein the closing valve further comprises aresilient device arranged to urge the closing valve to close.